Communicating student learning is a vital component of the learning process and fundamental to student success. This is an ongoing process throughout the school year that involves the teacher, the student and the parent.

What’s New in Langley?

New Ministry Reporting Order – September 2023

Effective September 2023, the Ministry of Education will be moving to a new K-12 Reporting Order.  In Langley, while we have already been implementing many of these changes over the last few years in anticipation of the new Reporting Order, there will still be some significant changes that will impact the work that of all of our educators in Langley around Communicating Student Learning.

Below are a number of useful documents for educators that provide more information about the upcoming changes as well as information and supports to help make the adjustment to these new realities:

k-12-student-reporting-policy-communicating-student-learning-guidelines.pdf

k-12-student-reporting-policy-presentation.pdf

unpacking-the-proficency-scale-support-for-educators.pdf

criteria-and-considerations-for-written-reports-for-educators (1).pdf

As well, the Ministry of Education has also produced an eight module webinar series on K-12 Student Reporting that provides educators, school leaders, and district leaders with important information about the upcoming shifts to the K-12 Student Reporting policy that take effect July 1.

Transitioning to Proficiency Scale in Secondary Schools

The Langley School District is excited to announce that, as of September 2021, our Secondary schools are shifting away from assigning letter grades on report cards in some grades. Instead, teachers will use Proficiency Levels as a component of communicating student learning with families.

This change in reporting practice can be seen across the province, as school districts work to better align themselves with the Ministry of Education’s Draft reporting policy and with BC’s redesigned curriculum. We believe it is important that Langley families receive meaningful information about their child’s learning. This shift will:

• Focus on learning as a continuous process
• Support a better understanding of learning; focus on next steps
• Encourage student reflection and goal setting
• Empower students to take ownership of their learning
• Foster hope, efficacy (belief in themselves), and a culture of learning

Research is clear that traditional letter grades signal the end of learning by suggesting that a particular subject is mastered or completed, but learning is actually a continuous process. The use of Proficiency levels will allow teachers to share where a student is currently at in their learning, as well as where they are going next. This model fosters a growth mindset for students, the empowering confidence that our abilities will continue to develop with hard work, effort, and determination.

Proficiency levels, as seen below, describe student learning based on widely held expectations for the grade level and time of year. Proficiency Scales, and the language of ‘Emerging’, ‘Developing’, ‘Proficient’, and ‘Extending’, will be used to describe student progress in all subject areas within a model of communicating student strengths, areas for growth, and ways to support learning at home and at school. This is the proficiency scale currently being used by the BC Ministry of Education.

Key Findings of Research:

• Grades tend to diminish students’ interest in whatever they’re learning.
• Grades create a preference for the easiest possible task.
• Grades tend to reduce the quality of students’ thinking.

Parent Communication:

• The Ministry of Education has provided a number of excellent resources for parents and caregivers to provide them with more information regarding the changes to the Ministry Reporting Order.  They can accessed at the Ministry website
• Further details about this transition were provided during an evening Elem/Middle Family Information Session hosted virtually on October 15^th. Click HERE to view recorded presentation
• Letter to Secondary Parents re Shift to Proficiency Levels:  Info for Families – CSL 2021Oct1
• Parent Information Session for Secondary Oct 14, 2021. Click HERE to view recorded presentation

Related Articles and Posts

• Edutopia – 4 Reasons Teachers are Going Gradeless
• Jordan Tinney – What do Letter Grades Have to do with Performance

BC Ministry of Education

• B.C. Curriculum (explore the competencies by grade and subject area)

Core Competency Resources

Check out the Core Competency Resources on this site under Curriculum/ Core Competencies